


salut d'amour

by relmsey



Category: The London Life (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ballroom Dancing, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Gift Fic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 08:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13360635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/relmsey/pseuds/relmsey
Summary: ‘Felix, in all his wisdom, decided that rather than being honest about his sad, loveless social life,’ Robbie said, laughing as he dodged the chess piece that was pelted at his head, ‘it would be a much better idea to invent a girlfriend in order to get his staff off his back.’‘They kept trying to set me up with their daughters! And some of their sons,’ Felix said, voice muffled as he buried his head in his hands. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time!’





	salut d'amour

**Author's Note:**

> merry christmas kristie <3

 

 

‘No, sorry, you did  _what_?’ 

Felix shook his head at Robbie. ‘Don’t make me repeat it.’

‘Wait, what did you do?’ Olivia asked, taking a few steps backwards in order to stand in the doorway of the living room where Felix and Robbie were sitting. Or rather where Robbie was sitting, and where Felix was sprawled across the sofa in a rather dramatic fashion. Robbie grinned at her. 

‘Felix-‘

‘N- _ooo_ ,’ Felix groaned.

‘ _Felix_ , in all his wisdom, decided that rather than being honest about his sad, loveless social life,’ Robbie said, laughing as he dodged the chess piece that was pelted at his head, ‘it would be a much better idea to _invent_ a girlfriend in order to get his staff off his back.’

‘They kept trying to set me up with their daughters! And some of their sons,’ Felix said, voice muffled as he buried his head in his hands. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time!’

‘And now all his colleagues are expecting to either meet her, or see photos of them together after, at the Ambassador’s Ball this weekend,’ Robbie said.

‘Oh dear,’ Olivia said, with no great deal of sympathy and rather more mirth than Felix thought appropriate. _Et tu_ , Olivia? ‘How did you get an invite to that anyway?’

‘I saved an ambassadors’ life once – it’s a long story.’

‘And one that I’ve heard already, so tell us all about this paragon of virtue,’ Robbie said, looking rather smug and settling himself back in his chair.

‘Grief.’ Felix dropped his face into his hands again. ‘I invented this whole mythical life for this mythical girl. I started out with little things – you know, blonde, kind smile – I thought it was vague enough! But then they kept asking me more and more questions about her and I ended up saying all sorts of bollocks.’

‘Like?’

‘Like how she was a medical student, and how she lived the other end of the country, which is why she was never in town. And how we met through her brother who was at Sandhurst with me. Which was even _more_ stupid because then they started trying to work out who he was. Fuck, I used to pretend to be going up north to visit her on my days off and really I’d just be holed up in some pub with Tal somewhere.’

Olivia looked at him with an odd expression

‘So she’s a kind, pretty, blonde medical student, and has an officer brother?’ Felix nodded. ‘…do you know, I think I might be able to help you.’

* * *

‘I need you to look at this picture.’

‘He’s…cute?’ Elise said, looking from the phone to Olivia a little warily. ‘Why are you showing me this?’

‘Yes! He’s very cute! He’s an army major – medical corps too,’ she said, with a Look at her friend. ‘I’d even say he’s handsome if you like that sort of thing.’

‘What sort of thing?’

‘Upright, principled – I mean, you’d call him a gentleman, I guess. A proper, old-fashioned _gentleman_  - so Lord knows how he’s friends with Robbie.’ Olivia grinned.

‘Oh?’

‘Yep.’

‘And again, you are showing me this because...?’

Olivia paused. ‘He’s also kind of a disaster and made up a fictional girlfriend to stop his colleagues trying to set him up with people.’

‘I see,’ Elise said, smiling. 

‘And – this is the important part – he described you.' 

‘…what?’

‘Not in a stalker way!’ she said quickly. ‘He doesn’t know you, but he essentially described you when he made her up. A kind, lovely, blonde medical student with a brother who went to Sandhurst.’ She grinned. ‘Evidently, this means you’re his dream girl.’

‘I’m not sure about that,’ Elise said, as she looked back at the photo on Olivia’s phone. ‘I don’t really think Gabriel is part and parcel of the dream girlfriend deal.’ She paused. ‘And I’m not a medical student, really.’

‘Veterinary medicine is still medicine. And I’ll be there with Harun if it all goes wrong,’ Olivia said, and then: ‘Please? It would mean a lot.’

Elise looked back up at her friend.

* * *

‘What do you wear to a ball?’ she asked, considering the dresses in her wardrobe.

‘Do you mean what do _you_  wear or what do _I_  wear,’ came Charity’s voice from the laptop on the bed. The background in the display was definitely someone's bed, and not her own one upstairs in their shared house. ‘The two things are very different.’

Elise didn’t dignify that with a response. She held up a pretty blue dress against herself, the gauzy skirt of it floating around her knees.

‘What about this one?’ Charity pulled a face. ‘I like this one!’

‘Ew, no. What is it, from your sixth form prom or something? Ask Rosie, I’m sure Gabe has taken her to a bunch of fancy balls.’ She looked up from whatever book on algae she was reading this week and into the camera. ‘Oooh, will your date be in  _dress uniform_?’

‘I mean I guess,’ said Elise as she pulled out her phone.

‘…hot.’ Charity stared into space for a moment before catching herself. ‘Best coordinate colours then.’ A pause. ‘Google says the medical dress uniform is a black and burgundy kind of deal.’

‘And Rosie says shoulders and knees covered,’ Elise said, looking up as her fingers flew across the screen.

‘Well you’re a model of angelic behaviour,’ Charity said. ‘I bet half the stuff in your wardrobe looks like that anyway.’

‘I - not _half_ ,’ Elise protested.

‘Whatever. Have you still got that cute burgundy dress with big tulle skirt?’

* * *

The knock on the door came fifteen minutes earlier than she expected, and whilst she appreciated his punctuality, she wasn’t quite ready when she opened the door. 

‘Hi – oh. It’s you,’ he said, blinking at her almost owlishly.

‘It’s…me?’ she agreed.

‘Sorry, sorry it’s – this is really surreal, but you look almost exactly how I imagined she would look.’ He paused. ‘I mean – you’re much prettier. I’m not – I’m not trying to – my imaginary girlfriend was definitely  _not_ more beautiful than you are –‘ He stopped and took a breath. ‘Hello. I’m Felix. You look lovely,’ he said. His cheeks were very distinctly pink, and Elise was charmed.

‘I’m Elise. Thank you,’ she said, with a small smile. ‘You look lovely too.’ He looked pleased with that and seemed to stand a little taller. ‘Do you want to come in for a minute whilst I grab my bag? It looks cold out there.’

'Right, yes. Thank you,' he said, stepping inside and pushing the door closed. 

'I'll be two minutes,' she promised as she headed back to her room. Charity stepped back from the door, where she'd evidently been peering out. _Dress uniform!_  she mouthed at Elise, who struggled not to laugh as she picked up her compact and unplugged her mobile. 

‘Are we getting a taxi?' she called out, wondering whether she could cram a pair of flats into her clutch. 

'No, I drove - is that okay?'

He sounded so nervous! Charity pressed a hand to her chest in the universal 'bless his heart' expression. 

'Oh, that's fine!’ She had got the shoes in. Result. ‘I just thought, since the invite Olivia gave me said open bar—'

‘Oh no I – I don’t really drink.’ He sounded a little sheepish, and Elise found that she could picture his face perfectly as he said it. ‘Setting a good example and all that. There’s this poster in my office on base — never mind.’

Charity's expression turned wide-eyed and she pulled a face, making a slashing motion at her throat as she shook her head, and this time Elise did splutter a little.

‘That’s…good to know,’ she said, pulling a face at her cousin in kind. She picked up her bag and very deliberately closed the door on Charity.

* * *

As they began the drive towards Eastborough, where tonight’s festivities were being held, they began to interrogate each other in the name of subterfuge, and Elise found she was rather more enthusiastic about the prospect than she had thought. It was quite fun, this, almost like being a spy. Felix came from a hodge-podge family of step and half-siblings, almost as messy as her own. They established that they had met at Gabriel and Rosie’s wedding, at which point they discovered that Felix  _did_  actually know Gabriel.

‘I mean, my friendship groups are all pretty incesty,’ Felix admitted. ‘Everyone seems to know each other somehow. Most of them have dated each other too, at some point.’

‘Wait, so we were both actually there?’

‘I mean I suppose,’ said Felix. ‘I wasn’t close to the top table or anything; to be honest I was hanging around the back with the rest of the Sandhurst lot and making the most of the free champagne. I still drank, then.’

‘We must have just passed each other by.’

‘Ships in the night,’ Felix agreed.

‘But hey, the best lies are the ones closest to the truth, right?’

‘Right,’ Felix said, nodding.

'So how long do your co-workers think we’ve been dating?'

He let out a little breath that was almost a laugh. 'Uh - about a year and a half. Nearly two.’

She twisted in her seat to look at him. 'You've not dated anyone in _two years_?’

'Oh no, I have! Well. I've tried. It just never stuck. I'm fairly invested my work, and not a lot of people want to hear about the study I’m doing on ganglion cysts over the dinner table.’ He took his eyes off the road for a moment to shoot her a wry smile. ‘I’ve learned my lesson though, I promise not to bore you with it this evening.’

Elise laughed. ‘No, no, it's fine, as long as I can bore you with the details about my current journal study.’

'What's that then?'

'Investigating the role of the gastrointestinal microbiota in domestic animal health and disease.'

'I will give you twenty quid if you bring that up over dinner with the ambassador.'

'Which one?'

Felix snorted. 'Oh, you'll know him. It’s his house.'

* * *

‘…and  _that’s_  when Major Sutcliffe said “Well why didn’t you  _tell_  me you’d never flown a helicopter before!”’ The group currently surrounding the ambassador broke into surprised and delighted laughter, with the exception of Felix who had heard the retelling many a time before. 'I don't think the brigadier's umbrella was ever quite the same again. But in all seriousness,' the red-haired man said, as he clapped a hand on Felix's shoulder, ‘I owe this gentleman my life.'

Felix smiled at the ambassador, but Elise could see him fidgeting under the scrutiny of the group surrounding them, all of Lord Alderhan’s impeccably coiffed and expensively dressed hangers-on. One of the ladies, introduced to them as Christina Billington (one of _those_ Billingtons, off of the telly, and how had _she_ managed to get in _here_?), looked at Felix with a predatory sort of expression and laid a hand on his shoulder as she leaned in to murmur something in his ear. The orchestra began to strike up the next piece as she did so and Elise saw her chance. 

‘Oh listen!’ she cried. ‘Darling! They’re playing our song!’ She took his arm and Felix shot her a look of pure gratitude. ‘Let me steal him away a moment?' She turned beseeching eyes on Lord Alderhan, who made some kind of comment about the joys of young love and all but pushed them out to join the rest of the couples on the dance floor. 

‘[Our song is by Elgar](https://open.spotify.com/track/1CymC5LJxfPzPHqEx4FkiW)?’ he asked, with a hint of a raised eyebrow as they took their places. ‘I have a reputation to maintain here.’

Elise laughed and hit him lightly on the shoulder before settling into the hold. ‘No you don’t. Anyway, it could have been worse. It could have been Mahler. Besides,’ she said, leaning in a little so as to be better heard over the string section, ‘this is the song that was playing at the wedding when we met. I’ve decided. You saw I had no partner for the first dance, gallantly stepped in to offer -- and that was that.'

'I saw you across the room and I knew,' Felix agreed, looking down at her with an expression that made her face heat up despite the fact that his hand was appropriately high on her waist, where it stayed for the next four dances until they were called in for dinner. She didn’t look for Olivia once.

* * *

(They talked all through the meal, and it was only after one of the smartly attired waiters informed them, very apologetically, that he had to remove the chairs that they realised that they were alone in the dining room.)

* * *

‘So, I guess this is goodnight then. Or good morning.’

It was nearly four and Elise was exhausted but happy, standing on the steps outside her house. Felix was a step below her, looking equally worn out, though his eyes were bright.

‘Good morning,’ she agreed. ‘And goodbye, too, unless you’re planning on roping me into some other kind of nefarious plan.’ She didn’t think that sounded too hopeful.

‘Well,’ Felix said, ‘actually. I don’t know what I’d tell them all at the Christmas party on base next month if you’re not there with me. The boss will kill me if she doesn’t get to meet you.’

‘It would look very strange if we didn’t turn up together,’ she agreed. ‘I mean, we could always stage a very messy breakup,’ she said, expression serious. He laughed and she couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes crinkled when he did. ‘That would be one way to deal with it.’

‘It would. But I – well.’ The blush was back, creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. ‘I would quite like to. Not break up with you. That is, I mean – I would really like to take you out on an _actual_ date. One where we don’t have to count the sodding cutlery, ideally.’

Elise smiled. 'I had a really nice time tonight,' she said. 'Even with all the sodding cutlery.'

'I'm glad,' he said, the words coming out on a breath she hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He moved to stand on the same step as her, only to be brought up short by a dark-haired girl hurtling out the front door, between the two of them and into a taxi, a large overnight bag on her shoulder.

‘I’M GOING TO NICK’S HAVE FUN TRY NOT TO BREAK ANYTHING.’

The pair of them stared after Charity, before descending into helpless laughter.

'I'm sorry,' Elise said. She was trying to catch her breath as she spoke. 'My cousin - she can be a bit -'

'I didn't - I wasn't trying to - I really did just want to walk you to your door.’

‘I know,’ she said. ‘A proper gentleman.’

She leant in and kissed him before she could second-guess herself, smiling into it as his hand came up to rest on the side of her neck. 

'Thank you for a lovely night, Major Sutcliffe,' she said softly, into the small space between them as she pulled back. 'You should call. Tomorrow.'

'Well,' he said, 'technically it _is_ tomorrow. And if I were to have called you tomorrow yesterday, I might have invited you out for breakfast. As it is, I know this great little cafe a few roads down, opens at five, serves an _excellent_  fried breakfast. Just what I need, I reckon, after a night like that, alcohol or no. Only one set of cutlery too, if that sweetens the deal.'

'Oh, well, I wasn't sure before, but _now_...' She laughed as his expression turned fond, laughter lines crinkling most appealingly by his eyes. 'I think it's a date.'


End file.
